UK-Japan Cooperation Toward Building Supply Chains - JAPAN ATOMIC INDUSTRIAL FORUM, INC.

As part of the UK-Japan Supply Chain Partnership Project, chaired by the British Embassy in Japan, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) provided support for the operation of online company explanatory meetings. The meetings were held three times—on January 24 and 30 and February 7—with 16 British and Japanese companies introducing their businesses and 148 interested parties from both countries participating online.

The UK-Japan Supply Chain Partnership Project, begun by the embassy and related parties in 2023, aims to mutually accrue knowledge and techniques among industries active in nuclear fields in both countries, and to contribute to establishing business partnerships among them in the future.

Japan has much information and many techniques to learn from the UK in advanced nuclear technology, including decommissioning, waste management, and small modular reactors (SMRs).

In the fall of 2023, at the UK-Japan Nuclear Industry Forum held by the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the British Embassy in Japan, British Ambassador Julia LONGBOTTOM CMG stressed that her country would like to further deepen the existing partnership with Japan, citing cooperation between the two countries in the development of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) and decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi.

One of the participating British companies at one of the explanatory meetings this time was Jacobs, which had concluded an agreement in 2022 with the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) for cooperation to strengthen management of the decommissioning project at Fukushima Daiichi. The firm’s representative mentioned its strengths, including specialized knowledge and engineering services, based on its experience with the reprocessing plant at Sellafield in the UK.

Stressing that the company’s mission was to “provide its customers with long-lasting solutions” not limited to nuclear power, but also aviation, space, automotive, information and communications, defense and more, the Jacobs representative also announced the recent opening of his company’s Tokyo headquarters toward the expansion of its business in Japan.

Meanwhile, at another explanatory meeting, a representative of Japan’s Okano Valve Mfg. Co. explained that his firm enjoyed an 80% domestic share for boiling water reactor (BWR) valves, and cited its growing business in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

He additionally pointed out that Okano Valve develops its own materials, designs its own plants, and conducts its own sales, deliveries, and maintenance, all with strict quality management and compatibility with international standards. Explaining its current development of shut-off valves for HTGRs, he added, “As a specialized manufacturer, we can provide high-quality products with which industries in the UK will be more than satisfied.”

Based on the views and opinions heard at the online explanatory meetings, and in cooperation with the British Embassy in Japan and related parties in the industry, JAIF will further support the export of solutions to the global nuclear market and the further development of technical and commercial partnerships.